"IF YOU DON'T TRY AS HARD AS YOU CAN . . ."

Roberto Clemente, an exceptional Major League baseball player for eighteen years from 1955-1972 once said, “If you don’t try as hard as you can, you are wasting your life.” Roberto never stopped trying to be the best possible professional baseball player he could, but more importantly, he did everything he could to improve the lives of people around the world who needed help, especially in his native Puerto Rico and Latin America. He never forgot what it was like to be poor and in need.

Roberto was born in 1934 and grew up loving the game of baseball.  His early bat and glove were made from a tree branch and coffee sack.  He had no money—just a love for the sport of baseball and amazing determination.  Eventually that desire and phenomenal skill brought him to his first Major League team, the Pittsburgh Pirates.  At the time he arrived in Pittsburgh in 1955, the Pirates had a losing record.  That didn’t last for long!  He made the city proud again.

The superstar from Puerto Rico was one of the greatest baseball players who ever lived.  I remember watching him on television many times as he played my favorite team, the Milwaukee Braves.  By the time his life tragically ended in a plane crash in 1972, Roberto had helped Pittsburgh win two World Series titles against the Yankees and Baltimore Orioles and been named Most Valuable Player in the 1971 World Series.  He batted an unheard of .414 in that seven-game series, including a home run in the critical 2-1 victory in the seventh game.  The amazing thing about Roberto is that he was also a fearless right fielder.  He had such incredible determination that no right field fence was going to stop him.  His career ended with twelve Gold Gloves, 3,000 hits, fourteen All-Star appearances, and a lifetime .317 batting average.  He led the National League in batting four times and on July 24, 1970 he was honored with a Roberto Clemente Night at the stadium in Pittsburgh. Many proud Puerto Ricans were in attendance.  The night also raised money for the numerous charities he generously supported.

Roberto died in a plane crash on December 31, 1972 as he was on his way to help earthquake victims in Nicaragua.  He was carrying food and supplies, which he paid for, to help survivors.  There was heavy rain, and engine failure caused his plane to crash in the ocean. 

In 1973 Roberto Clemente was voted posthumously into the Baseball Hall of Fame.  He was the first Latin American player to have been so honored. 

Today there is a sports facility in Puerto Rico created so that poor children might have opportunities like Roberto.  His generous donations helped create it. 

Roberto is a hero worshipped and revered around the world.  He was an outstanding baseball player, but an even more amazing human being. He never stopped trying to make the world a better place.